1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to arm and elbow braces and, more particularly, to an elbow brace for preventing or attenuating the painful inflammation of the tendons in the elbow, commonly known as "tennis elbow." The present invention accomplishes this through the application of direct pressure on various tendons that are susceptible to abnormal stretching during strenuous athletic activities along with placement of shock absorbing elements around the epicondyle of the humerus bone to absorb and dissipate at least a portion of any shock energy that may travel along the forearm of the user. The invention is also directed to a method for preventing or reducing this condition known as tennis elbow utilizing these same principles.
2. Description of Related Art
Tennis elbow is a commonly used term to describe a painful, medical condition which is characterized by inflammation of the ligaments that connect the two bones of the forearm, the radius and ulna, and inflammation of the tendons of the muscles of the forearm that are attached to the two spurs of the humerus, the medial and lateral epicondyle. Inflammation can also occur to the tendon of the triceps brachii which is attached to the olecranon of the ulna and can also extend to the tissues in the area directly surrounding the medial and lateral epicondyle.
This condition, as the name implies, has been generally associated with the sport of tennis, although it can be experienced by participants in a number of other sporting activities, in which a racket, bat, or other sporting equipment is utilized to strike another object. This condition can also occur in persons who throw objects, such as baseballs, footballs and the like, especially if an abnormal amount of bending and twisting occurs in the arm and elbow during the throw. Also, tennis elbow can occur in non-sports related activities, such as hammering or performing manual labor which requires a high amount of elbow flexure and repetitive motion of the forearm.
The most characteristic symptom of tennis elbow is extreme pain which occurs from continued participation in the physical activity. Pain can also be brought on through simple movement of the forearm, for example, when a person lifts even a light object. The pain resulting with tennis elbow has been most often attributed to the inflammation that occurs to the tendons of the muscles of the forearm which are attached to the medial and lateral epicondyle of the humerus bone. Also, due to the shock that can be generated in the elbow region during physical activities, inflammation to the surrounding tissues can occur and also cause pain. Inflammation of the tendon extending from the triceps brachii to the olecranon also adds to the overall pain suffered by the afflicted person.
Although the cause of tennis elbow and the associated inflammation of the tendons and tissue in the region of the elbow are not completely understood, it appears that the condition is most often excaberated when the participant holds an object and strikes another object with the held object. For example, in the case of an activity such as tennis, the player holds a racket which acts as an outward extension of his own arm. The act of striking a moving ball, which can create quite an impact or force on the head of the racket, causes a shock wave or shock energy to travel along the handle of the racket and in turn along the forearm of the player. The shock energy (and the associated vibration) then propagates up the forearm and along the various muscles and tendons of the forearm until it terminates and dissipates at the elbow. Whenever the ball is hit by the player, shock energy travels up along the muscles of the forearm where it will cause some trauma and stretching of the tendons. In the event that a ball is mishit by the player, an increased amount of shock is created which again travels through the racket down along the forearm where it can do considerably more harm to the tendons and tissues in the elbow.
The shock which travels along the forearm of the player can cause at least some of the tendons attached at the epicondyle to stretch and move outward away from the bone in a phenomena sometimes referred to as "pouching". This phenomenon is especially prevalent to the tendon of the extensor digitorum muscle which is attached to the epicondyle. Since this tendon is somewhat larger than most tendons in the area, the resulting shock and movement of the muscles during the swing of the player's arm causes the tendon to stretch and move outward away from the underlying bone. As a result, continued shock can cause this particular tendon to continue to stretch and "pouch" causing the tendon to enlarge and become inflamed. In some situations, the tendons become so stretched from its original size that surgery must be performed to reduce its size back to the size of a normal tendon. This, of course, is a rare occurrence but shows the damage that the shock energy can inflict on at least one of the tendons of the forearm.
Similar pouching can also occur to the tendon extending from the triceps brachii which is in turn attached to the olecranon of the ulna. This particular tendon can also stretch and pouch resulting in inflammation and its associated discomfort. Prolonged and continuous subjection of this tendon to the shock wave again causes additional stretching and increased pain from inflammation.
Treatment for tennis elbow generally consists of rest which allows the tendons to heal and naturally revert to their original length which also helps to reduce the associated inflammation. To some extent, exercise can be performed to strengthen the muscle and its tendon, however, once the condition begins, it is often difficult to exercise to alleviate tennis elbow. Other treatments include taking anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin and other pain killing drugs along with injections of hydrocortisone and other similar pain-killing medications. In rare and severe cases, as mentioned above, surgery may have to be performed to reduce the length of the stretched tendon.
Other treatment to prevent this condition of tennis elbow is through the wearing of devices which apply pressure around the forearm of the player to prevent some of the movement of the muscles and tendons during the physical activity. Such devices usually are made from an elastic band and velcro straps which apply a radial pressure to the forearm. In many devices, a generalized pressure is applied to the region of the elbow without much attention being given to localizing the pressure to the particular tendons that are more susceptible to the phenomenon of pouching. As a result, these prior art devices provide some means for preventing pouching, but for the most part, only reduce it a small amount. Also, prior art devices have been utilized to apply direct pressure onto the medial and lateral epicondyle to reduce the amount of stretching of the tendons in this region. These devices are somewhat helpful but most often do not provide nearly enough pressure, due to their design, to prevent trauma in this region. Prior art devices that place pressure on the epicondyle simply do not appreciate the effect of reducing or dissipating the shock energy which exits via the elbow.
The better approach is to localize the pressure and increase it to prevent the tendons of interest from stretching or pouching. Also, it would be preferable to somehow absorb the shock energy which exits via the elbow in order to reduce the amount of trauma that can be caused to the tendons and tissues in the areas surrounding the epicondyle. By merely pressing a hardened object against the epicondyle, or wrapping it with an elastic band, little, if any, shock is actually absorbed by these elements, thus ultimately diminishing their ability to alleviate trauma caused by the shock.
Therefore, there is a need for a new device and method which will prevent or alleviate the condition known as tennis elbow which eliminates the disadvantages and shortcomings associated with prior art devices. Preferably, the device should be lightweight and relatively simple in construction to allow the user to wear it without much impediment during play. It should also be designed so that the device can be simply placed on the arm and easily fixed into place allowing the various elements to perform their designated function with a minimal need to continually maneuver and maintain the elements at their proper location on the arm.